Tube amp frauds on Ebay

Yeah I know, this may not be the best place for this, but where is the right place?
Take a look at this Ebay listing and tell me what's wrong with it....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=300408079448&Category=67816&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1
That's a pair of Marantz model 9 mono blocks, coveted Holy Grail of the classic Marantz line. These always sell for at least $10,000 a pair. When a pair comes up, the seller is generally going to describe them down to the last capacitor and place a substantial reserve on the auction to protect the investment. This guy obviously is aware of the cache attached to these, but his opening bid was $9.00, yes nine bucks. His photos are vague and could come from anywhere. He encourages email questions, but hasn't responded to my query for more pix. He has no feedback whatsoever. I suspect that this guy doesn't have the amps, nor did he ever. I tried to raise an inquiry at Ebay, but met with a complete lack of entry. One can only raise a flag if one has already gotten ripped off. Please, my brothers of the firebottle, exercise extreme caution when buying valuable amps, tubes, or anything else on Ebay. I only hope that whoever wins this auction proves me wrong and invites us all over to hear his killer new system...And to the seller, If you really have them...You're about to lose them cheap, but the free shipping was a nice touch.

Current bid=US $1,824.00
Ouch somebody might get scammed big on these. I'm always extremely wary of any auction where the seller won't communicate, is selling a very expensive item with few pictures/information and has ZERO feedback to top it off. Too many things don't add up IMO.

What became of this auction, I wonder? Did you follow it to conclusion?

It really is too suspicious to be trusted, and the reality of ebay frauds of various types, is now well known.

If the amps are for real, which I doubt, my guess is the seller has another account, or an associate, who will make sure to win the auction if the price does not go high enough to let the amps go to a legit bidder.

Asking for more pix was clever. I think that pretty much exposed the situation.

Yes, I did follow the auction to conclusion...He pulled the auction off of Ebay with about $6000 in bids on them and no explanation...Then a couple days later I got an email from the seller. Here is the message:

Hi,

My MARANTZ Model 9 Mono Amplifiers are not on ebay anymore, but are still available for sale.
My usual schedule has been changed and I had to go to Spain to take care of some business and that's why I closed my auction.
The final price for the amps is US $ 6,800.00 including all the shipping costs and insurance. These are original, not re-issues and in perfect working condition. The serial numbers are: 9-2379 and 9-2860.
Also I want to let you know that you will have the opportunity to receive and inspect the amps before you actually pay for them. If you are interested and want to know more details regarding the purchase just contact me.
Thanks,
Bob

He also included some larger pictures of the amps, that looked VERY FAMILIAR to me. I cannot say for sure, but I believe that they were copied from another internet source that I have seen before. I'll be happy to email the pictures to anybody who wants to see them, but will not post them here. So basically he offered to sell me these amps well less than 1/2 or perhaps even 1/3 over their actual value. Absolutely too good to be true! I sincerely hope that nobody has fallen for it. Also his claim that the buyer could inspect the amps before payment is idiotic and I'm sure would lead to a situation where claimed to "hold" a check or bank transfer, which of course he'd pocket.